Apparatus and method for helping in the reading of an electronic message

ABSTRACT

An apparatus and method are disclosed for determining whether the meaning of a word in an electronic message should be presented to a user, according to a dynamic determination of whether the user knows the meaning of the word. A communication control unit receives a message sent from user A to user B. A morphological analysis unit extracts a word from the message, and a history acquisition unit acquires history information on viewing, usage, or the like of the word by user B. A display determination unit determines whether the meaning of the word should be displayed, according to the acquired history information, the language level of user B, and the difficulty level of the word. The meaning of the word is presented to user B according to the determination result.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to an apparatus and a method for helpingin the reading of electronic messages, in particular, electronicmessages exchanged between multiple users.

BACKGROUND ART

International business has increased in recent years. Accordingly,opportunities to communicate with foreigners using foreign languageshave also increased. For example, assume that two persons havingdifferent native languages have a chat via the Internet. If the twopersons have different language levels, they may not be able tocommunicate with each other smoothly. In such a situation, one of thetwo persons who has a lower language level usually obtains a translationof a hard-to-understand word possibly included in a message sent fromthe other person by using an electronic dictionary or a translationsite. However, it takes time and effort to do such work. Even if suchwork can be done with one click or can be done by simply positioning amouse cursor over a hard-to-understand word, the complexity of the workbecomes non-negligible if the frequency of translation is increased.

For this reason, technologies for automatically consulting a dictionaryto examine the meanings of words have been proposed. According to atechnology disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent ApplicationPublication No. 2000-89882, if a sentence display window is selected, asentence displayed in the window is divided into words, a dictionary isconsulted to examine the meanings of only words corresponding to a givenlevel among the divided words, and the dictionary-consulted words andtheir typical meanings are displayed at a glance in a meaning listdisplay window.

Among technologies related to language learning are a system forallowing a user to learn a language with pleasure using a cell phone orthe like according to the user's learning level (see, e.g., JapaneseUnexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2004-151421) and adictionary search apparatus in which history information on searchedkeywords accumulated for each user is secondarily used so that thehistory information is presented to each user (see, e.g., JapaneseUnexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2005-293115).

However, in the technology disclosed in Japanese Unexamined PatentApplication Publication No. 2000-89882, the language level used todetermine whether a dictionary need be consulted is a static criterion.In general, the language level of a user with respect to a particularlanguage varies with a lapse of time and the usage situation of thelanguage. If a dictionary need be consulted is determined according tosuch a static criterion, the determination result may not match theuser's current language level.

As for the technologies disclosed in Japanese Unexamined PatentApplication Publication Nos. 2004-151421 and 2005-293115, neither candetermine whether a dictionary need be consulted to examine the meaningof a word.

These problems occur not only when a user attempts to obtain atranslation of a word in a language different from the user's nativelanguage but also when a user attempts to pronounce a hard-to-pronounceword or understand a hard-to-understand word in the user's nativelanguage.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Accordingly, the present invention determines if the meaning of a wordincluded in an electronic message needs to be presented to a user,according to a dynamic determination of whether the user currently knowsthe meaning of the word.

The present invention provides an apparatus for helping in the readingof an electronic message exchanged between multiple users. The apparatusincludes: an extraction unit for extracting a word from the electronicmessage sent to a particular user; an acquisition unit for acquiringhistory information on at least one of viewing and usage of the word bythe particular user; and a determination unit for determining whether ameaning of the word extracted by the extraction unit needs to bepresented to the particular user, according to the history informationacquired by the acquisition unit.

Here, the acquisition unit may acquire the history information on theviewing of the word, and if the history information on the viewing ofthe word meets a criterion that is related to the viewing of the wordand predetermined as a criterion for presuming that the particular userknows the meaning of the word, the determination unit may determine thatthe meaning of the word need not be presented to the particular user.

The acquisition unit may acquire the history information on the viewingof the word, and if the history information on the viewing of the worddoes not meet a criterion that is related to the viewing of the word andpredetermined as a criterion for presuming that the particular userknows the meaning of the word, the determination unit may determine thatthe meaning of the word needs to be presented to the particular user.

The acquisition unit may acquire the history information on the viewingof the word and the history information on the usage of the word, andeven if the history information on the viewing of the word does not meeta criterion that is related to the viewing of the word and predeterminedas a criterion for presuming that the particular user knows the meaningof the word, the determination unit may determine that the meaning ofthe word need not be presented to the particular user if the historyinformation on the usage of the word meets a criterion that is relatedto the usage of the word and predetermined as a criterion for presumingthat the particular user knows the meaning of the word.

The acquisition unit may acquire the history information on the viewingof the word and the history information on the usage of the word, and ifthe history information on the viewing of the word does not meet acriterion that is related to the viewing of the word and predeterminedas a criterion for presuming that the particular user knows the meaningof the word and if the history information on the usage of the word doesnot meet a criterion that is related to the usage of the word andpredetermined as a criterion for presuming that the particular userknows the meaning of the word, the determination unit may determine thatthe meaning of the word needs to be presented to the particular user.

The acquisition unit may acquire the history information on the usage ofthe word, and if the history information on the usage of the word meetsa criterion that is related to the usage of the word and predeterminedas a criterion for presuming that the particular user knows the meaningof the word, the determination unit may determine that the meaning ofthe word need not be presented to the particular user.

The acquisition unit may acquire the history information on the usage ofthe word, and if the history information on the usage of the word doesnot meet a criterion that is related to the usage of the word andpredetermined as a criterion for presuming that the particular userknows the meaning of the word, the determination unit may determine thatthe meaning of the word needs to be presented to the particular user.

The acquisition unit may acquire the history information on the usage ofthe word and the history information on consultation of an electronicdictionary performed by the particular user to examine the meaning ofthe word, and if the history information on the usage of the word doesnot meet a criterion that is related to the usage of the word andpredetermined as a criterion for presuming that the particular userknows the meaning of the word and if the history information on theconsultation does not meet a criterion that is related to theconsultation and predetermined as a criterion for presuming that theparticular user knows the meaning of the word, the determination unitmay determine that the meaning of the word needs to be presented to theparticular user.

The acquisition unit acquires the history information on the usage ofthe word and the history information on consultation of an electronicdictionary performed by the particular user to examine the meaning ofthe word, and even if the history information on the usage of the worddoes not meet a criterion that is related to the usage of the word andpredetermined as a criterion for presuming that the particular userknows the meaning of the word, the determination unit may determine thatthe meaning of the word need not be presented to the particular user ifthe history information on the consultation meets a criterion that isrelated to the consultation and predetermined as a criterion forpresuming that the particular user knows the meaning of the word.

The present invention also provides a method for helping in the readingof an electronic message exchanged between multiple users. The methodincludes: extracting a word from the electronic message sent to aparticular user; acquiring history information on at least one ofviewing and usage of the extracted word performed by the particularuser; and determining whether a meaning of the extracted word needs tobe presented to the particular user, according to the acquired historyinformation.

Further, the present invention provides a program product for causing acomputer to function as an apparatus for helping in the reading of anelectronic message exchanged between multiple users. The programproduct, when executed by the computer, causes the computer to functionas: an extraction unit for extracting a word from the electronic messagesent to a particular user; an acquisition unit for acquiring historyinformation on at least one of viewing and usage of the word by theparticular user, the word being extracted by the extraction unit; and adetermination unit for determining whether a meaning of the wordextracted by the extraction unit needs to be presented to the particularuser, according to the history information acquired by the acquisitionunit.

According to the present invention, whether the meaning of a wordincluded in an electronic message need be presented to a user isdetermined according to a dynamic determination whether the usercurrently knows the meaning of the word.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example overall configuration of acomputer system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an example functional configuration ofa client according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing example operations of the client accordingto an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing example operations of the client accordingto an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing example operations of a displaydetermination unit according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing example operations of a history creationunit according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a drawing showing an example of a chat window used in anembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a drawing showing an example of a chat for describing adisplay determination process according to an embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 9 a drawing showing an example of a chat for describing the displaydetermination process according to an embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 10 a drawing showing an example of a chat for describing thedisplay determination process according to an embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 11 is a drawing showing an additional function of the chat windowused in an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 12 is a drawing showing an additional function of the chat windowused in an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 13 is a drawing showing an additional function of the chat windowused in an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 14( a) shows an example of content stored in a dictionary storageunit according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 14( b) shows an example of content stored in a history storage unitaccording to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 15 is a diagram showing a hardware configuration of a computer towhich an embodiment of the present invention is applicable.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Various embodiments of present invention will now be described withreference to the accompanying drawings.

First, a computer system to which an embodiment is applied will bedescribed.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example overall configuration of such acomputer system.

As shown, a client 10 a, a client 10 b, and a chat server 20 are coupledto one another via a network 80 in this computer system.

The clients 10 a and 10 b are terminals used by users, such as personalcomputers (PCs). More specifically, the clients 10 a and 10 b areterminals that users use to exchange electronic messages (hereaftersimply referred to as “messages”) with each other. While only twoclients are shown in the drawing, three or more clients may be provided.In the following description, the clients 10 a and 10 b may be simplyreferred to as “clients 10” unless these clients need be distinguished.

The chat server 20 is a server computer for managing exchange ofmessages in a chat performed via the network 80. For example, accordingto a request to participate in a chat from the client 10 a used by auser A and a request to participate in the same chat from the client 10b used by a user B, the chat server 20 manages identificationinformation on the chat, identification information on the user A,identification information on the user B, identification information onthe client 10 a, and identification information on the client 10 b, andthe like. If the chat server 20 receives a message from the user A oruser B, it performs control such that the message is sent to the client10 used by the other user.

The network 80 is a communication means used to exchange messages.Examples of the network 80 include the Internet and local area networks(LANs).

In the computer system having such a configuration, a translationdisplay program according to an embodiment is installed into each client10. This translation display program automatically translates wordsincluded in a message received from the client 10 used by a chat partnerso that the meanings of the words are displayed. At that time, it isdetermined whether the meaning of each word included in the messageneeds to be displayed, according to history information on a pluralityof items (e.g., appearance date, appearance frequency, usage experience,and whether or not a dictionary has been consulted) as well as the levelof each word. If it is determined that the meaning of any word needs tobe displayed, the meaning of the word is displayed in a manner that theword is colored with a color corresponding to its level.

The functions realized in the client 10 by executing this translationdisplay program will be described below.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an example functional configuration ofthe client 10.

As shown, the client 10 includes a communication control unit 11, amorphological analysis unit 12, a history creation unit 13, a historystorage unit 14, and a history acquisition unit 15. It also includes auser level storage unit 16, a dictionary storage unit 17, a displaydetermination unit 18, and an input/output control unit 19. In thefollowing description, it will be assumed that the client 10 is used bythe user B who receives messages from the user A as a chat partner andthat the user A has a language ability higher than the user B.

The communication control unit 11 sends or receives messages to or fromthe chat server 20 via the network 80.

The morphological analysis unit 12 divides a message described in anatural language into a string of morphemes and determines the part ofspeech of each morpheme. A “morpheme” here refers to the smallest unithaving a meaning in a natural language. For example, if a message to beprocessed is “She showed a certificate of administrative scrivener,”“She (PRON)/showed (V)/a (DET)/certificate (N)/of (PREP)/administrativescrivener” will result. Here, “/” denotes a dividing position of themessage and “PRON,” “V,” “DET,” “N,” and “PREP” denote a pronoun, averb, an indefinite article, a noun, and a preposition, respectively.The morphological analysis is a known technology and will not bedescribed in detail. In an embodiment, the morphological analysis unit12 is provided as an example of an extraction unit for extracting a wordfrom an electronic message.

The history creation unit 13 creates history information on the viewing,usage, and dictionary consultation by the user B, of words included inmessages received or sent by the communication control unit 11, andstores these items of information in the history storage unit 14.

The history storage unit 14 stores the history information created bythe history creation unit 13. While the history information according toan embodiment includes information on the date and time when the user Bhas viewed and/or used each word and information on the date and timewhen the user B has consulted an electronic dictionary to examine themeaning of each word, the history information may include other types ofinformation.

The history acquisition unit 15 receives words with respect to each ofwhich it will be determined whether the meaning need be displayed, fromthe display determination unit 18 and then acquires history informationon these words. In an embodiment, the history acquisition unit 15 isprovided as an example of an acquisition unit for acquiring historyinformation.

The user level storage unit 16 stores the user level representing thelanguage ability of each user. For example, if the target foreignlanguage is English, the level of a user may be set to any of fivelevels representing the English ability according to the user's TOEIC(registered trademark) score.

The dictionary storage unit 17 stores a dictionary in which each word isassociated with meanings corresponding to parts of speech of the word.According to an embodiment, each word is given a word level representingthe difficulty of the word in this dictionary. For example, the level ofa word may be set to any of five levels representing the difficulty of aword, like the user level. While the word level is considered additionalinformation to the electronic dictionary in an embodiment, thecorrespondence between each word and its word level may be storedindependently of the electronic dictionary.

The display determination unit 18 determines whether the meaning of aword need be displayed, according to the history information stored inthe history storage unit 14, the user level stored in the user levelstorage unit 16, and the word level stored in the dictionary storageunit 17. In an embodiment, the display determination unit 18 is providedas an example of a determination unit for determining whether themeaning of a word need be displayed.

The input/output control unit 19 displays the meaning of a word on thedisplay of the client 10 or receives an operation performed on theclient 10 using a mouse or the like.

Also assume that an application (not shown) for realizing instantmessaging and an application (not shown) for realizing an automaticdictionary consultation function are also installed in the client 10.The “instant messaging” here refers to a system in which users areallowed to perform chatting, file transfer, or the like with each otherif they are using the same software on the Internet and are online. The“automatic dictionary consultation function” here refers to a functionfor allowing the meaning of a word to be displayed when the word ispointed to with a mouse.

Operations of the client 10 according to an embodiment will now bedescribed.

First, operations performed by the client 10 when it receives a messagesent from the user A will be described. FIG. 3 is a flowchart showingone example of such operations.

In the client 10, first, the communication control unit 11 receives amessage from the user A and passes it on to the morphological analysisunit 12 (step 101). Then, the morphological analysis unit 12 performs amorphological analysis on the passed message and passes the analysisresult on to the display determination unit 19 and history creation unit13 (step 102). Specifically, the morphological analysis unit 12 passesinformation on multiple words and their parts of speech obtained as aresult of the morphological analysis, on to the display determinationunit 18. Also, the morphological analysis unit 12 passes information onthe multiple words as a result of the morphological analysis,information on the user A as the sender, and information on the date andtime when the message has been received, on to the history creation unit13.

Subsequently, the display determination unit 18 performs a displaydetermination process of determining whether the meaning of each wordneeds to be displayed and passes the determination result on to theinput/output control unit 19 (step 103). At that time, the displaydetermination unit 18 instructs the history acquisition unit 15 toacquire history information on each word from the history storage unit14. Then, the display determination unit 18 refers to the historyinformation acquired by the history acquisition unit 15 from the historystorage unit 15. It also refers to the user level of the user B storedin the user level storage unit 16 and the word level of each word storedin the dictionary storage unit 17.

Thereafter, the input/output control unit 19 displays not only thepassed multiple words but also the meanings of several words withrespect to each of which it has been determined that the meaning need bedisplayed (step 104). At that time, the several words are displayed in amanner that the words are colored according to their respective wordlevels. With regard to the meanings of these words, only meaningscorresponding to their parts of speech in the message are displayedseparately from the message. The meanings of words with respect to eachof which it has been determined that the meaning need not be displayedand the meanings corresponding to other parts of speech of the words,the meanings of which are displayed, are displayed if the user points tothese words with a mouse.

On the other hand, the history creation unit 13 performs a historycreation process of creating history information for each word andstores the created history information in the history storage unit 14(step 105). At that time, the history creation unit 13 takes intoaccount information on the sender passed from the morphological analysisunit 12, information on the date and time when the message has beenreceived, and information on the dictionary consultation passed from theinput/output control unit 19.

Operations performed when a message inputted by the user B is sent willnow be described. FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing an example of suchoperations.

In the client 10, first, the input/output control unit 19 receives amessage from the user B and passes it on to the morphological analysisunit 12 (step 121). Then, the morphological analysis unit 12 performs amorphological analysis on the passed message and passes the analysisresult on to the history creation unit 12, as well as passes the messageon to the communication control unit 11 (step 122). Specifically, themorphological analysis unit 12 passes multiple words obtained as aresult of the morphological analysis, information on the user B as thesender of the message, and information on the date and time when themessage has been received, on to the history creation unit 13.

Upon receipt of the message from the morphological analysis unit 12, thecommunication control unit 11 sends the message to the chat server 20via the network 80 (step 123).

On the other hand, the history creation unit 13 performs a historycreation process of creating history information for each of the passedwords and stores the created history information in the history storageunit 14 (step 124). At that time, the history creation unit 13 takesinto account information on the sender of the message passed from themorphological analysis unit 12 and information on the date and time whenthe message has been received.

Hereafter, the display determination process performed in step 103 shownin FIG. 3 will be described in detail.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing example operations of the displaydetermination process. Note that these example operations are operationsperformed with respect to one of the multiple words passed from themorphological analysis unit 12.

When the operations are started, the display determination unit 18 firstdetermines whether there is history information on that word (step 141).Specifically, the display determination unit 18 instructs the historyacquisition unit 15 to acquire the history information on the word.Then, it makes the above-described determination according to a responsefrom the history acquisition unit 15 indicating whether the historyacquisition unit 15 has acquired the history information.

If the display determination unit 18 determines that there is thehistory information on the word, it refers to the history information todetermine whether the user B has viewed the word within a predeterminedtime period or whether the user B has viewed it predetermined times ormore (step 142). Here, it is assumed that the “viewing” is a conceptincluding both a case where the user B has viewed a certain word becauseit has appeared in a message from the user A and a case where the user Bhas viewed the word because the user B has used it in a message of hisor her own. If the user B has viewed the word within the predeterminedtime period or has viewed it at least a predetermined times, the displaydetermination unit 18 adds, to the word, information indicating that themeaning of the word will not be displayed (step 143).

Displaying the meaning with respect to only words that have not beenviewed within the predetermined time period, as described above, isbased on a theory that a human is highly likely to forget a word that heor she has not viewed for some time. This theory is based on, forexample, Ebbinghaus's forgetting curve indicating that a human loses 56%of his or her memory one hour after, its 74% one day after, and its 77%one week after.

Also, refraining from displaying the meaning of a word that has beenviewed predetermined times or more is based on an idea that if a humanhas often viewed a certain word in messages, he or she is highly likelyto bear the word in memory. In this case, the predetermined times may beset to, for example, six times according to “Increase Your Vocabularywith Seven Tips” (tentative English title), Newsweek Japan Edition, Apr.25, 2007.

If the display determination unit 18 determines in step 142 that theuser B has not viewed the word within the predetermined time period andhas not viewed the word at least a predetermined number of times, itdetermines whether the viewing of the word has always been due to theusage of the word by the user B (step 144). Specifically, the displaydetermination unit 18 makes the above-described determination byreferring to information on the usage of the word by the user B includedin the history information acquired by the history acquisition unit 15.

If the display determination unit 18 determines that the viewing of theword has always been due to the usage of the word by the user B, itadds, to the word, information indicating that the meaning of the wordwill not be displayed (step 143). This is based on an idea that a userwho has used a certain word on his or her own is highly likely to knowthe word.

Conversely, if the display determination unit 18 determines that theviewing of the word has not always been due to the usage of the word bythe user B, it determines whether the user B has consulted an electronicdictionary to examine the meaning of the word (step 145). The electronicdictionary here refers to dictionary data used to display the meaning ofa word in a message sent by the user A by locating a mouse cursor on theword in the message on the display area.

If the display determination unit 18 determines that the user B hasconsulted the electronic dictionary, it retrieves the meaning of theword in the dictionary storage unit 17 and adds the retrieved meaning tothe word (step 146). This is because if a user examines the meaning of aword using an electronic dictionary, he or she is highly likely to haveforgotten the meaning of the word.

Conversely, if the display determination unit 18 determines that theuser B has not used an electronic dictionary, it determines whether themeaning of the word need be displayed, according to a comparison betweenthe user level and the word level. Specifically, the displaydetermination unit 18 determines whether the word level is lower thanthe user level (step 147). If the word level is not lower than the userlevel, the display determination unit 18 retrieves the meaning of theword in the dictionary storage unit 17, and adds the retrieved meaningto the word (step 146). Conversely, if the word level is lower than theuser level, the display determination unit 18 adds, to the word,information indicating that the meaning of the word will not bedisplayed (step 143).

Incidentally, if it is determined in step 141 that there is no historyinformation on the word, the word is a word that has appeared for thefirst time in messages sent by the user A and messages inputted by theuser B. Therefore, the display determination unit 18 determines whetherthe meaning of the word needs to be displayed, according to a comparisonbetween the user level and word level. Specifically, the displaydetermination unit 18 determines whether the word level is lower thanthe user level (step 147). If the word level is not lower than the userlevel, the display determination unit 18 retrieves the meaning of theword in the dictionary storage unit 17, and adds the retrieved meaningto the word (step 146). Conversely, if the word level is lower than theuser level, the display determination unit 18 adds, to the word,information indicating that the meaning of the word will not bedisplayed (step 143).

Such operations performed in the display determination process are onlyillustrative and specific criteria for determining whether a user bearsa word in memory are not limited to what are used herein.

For example, a criterion of whether the word has been viewed within thepredetermined time period and a criterion of whether the word has beenviewed predetermined times or more are used in step 142 as criteriarelated to the viewing of the word; however, these criteria are oneexample of criteria that are related to the viewing of the word andpredetermined as criteria for presuming that the user B knows themeaning of the word.

Also, a criterion of whether the viewing of the word has always been dueto the usage of the word by the user B is used as a criterion related tothe usage of the word in step 144; however, this criterion is oneexample of a criterion that is related to the usage of the word andpredetermined as a criterion for presuming that the user B knows themeaning of the word.

Further, a criterion of whether an electronic dictionary has not beenconsulted is used as a criterion related to the consultation in step145; however, this criterion is one example of a criterion that isrelated to the consultation and predetermined as a criterion forpresuming that the user B knows the meaning of the word.

Furthermore, all the determinations (determinations made in steps 142,144, and 145) whether the user bears the word in memory need not bemade.

For example, only the determination in step 142 may be made withoutmaking the determinations in steps 144 and 145. Or only thedeterminations in step 142 and 144 may be made without making thedetermination in step 145. Or only the determinations in step 144 and145 may be made without making the determination in step 142. Or anotherprocess flow in which only one or two of the three determinations aremade may be employed.

The history creation process performed in step 105 of FIG. 3 and step124 of FIG. 4 will now be described in detail. FIG. 6 is a flowchartshowing example operations in the history creation process. Theseexample operations are operations performed with respect to one of themultiple words passed from the morphological analysis unit 12.

When the operations are started, the history creation unit 13 receives,from the morphological analysis unit 12, that word, sender informationindicating whether the word is included in a message sent by the user Aor included in a message inputted by the user B, and the date and timewhen the word has been received by the communication control unit 11 orby the input/output control unit 19 (step 161). Then, the historycreation unit 13 determines whether the sender information indicates theuser A or it indicates the user B (step 162).

If the history creation unit 13 determines that the sender informationindicates the user A, it stores the fact that the word has appeared inthe message sent by the user A at the date and time when the word hasbeen received, as history information (step 163) in the history storageunit 14. Thereafter, the word is displayed on the display or the like ofthe client 10 with its meaning or without its meaning, according to theresult of the display determination process shown in FIG. 5. Thus, ifthe word is displayed without its meaning, the user B consults theelectronic dictionary to examine the meaning of the word, as necessary.

Subsequently, the history creation unit 13 determines whether theelectronic dictionary has been consulted for the word (step 164). If thehistory creation unit 13 determines that the electronic dictionary hasbeen consulted, it stores the fact in the history storage unit 14 in amanner that the fact is associated with the word (step 165). Conversely,if the history creation unit 13 determines that the electronicdictionary has not been consulted, it stores no more information in thehistory storage unit 14.

On the other hand, if the history creation unit 13 determines that thesender information indicates the user B, it stores the fact that theuser B has used the word at the date and time when the word has beenreceived, as history information (step 166).

The operations according to an embodiment will now be described withregard to FIG. 7 using a window of the software “Sametime” manufacturedby the IBM (“IBM” and “Sametime” are registered trademarks of theInternational Business Machines Corporation) as an example.

FIG. 7 is a drawing showing a chat window 30 displayed in an embodiment.

The central area of the chat window 30 is divided into the left area andright area. The left area is used as a message history area 31. Most ofthe right area is used as a meaning display area 32. Level-specificdisplay command buttons 33 are displayed in a lower part of the rightarea.

Among these, the message history area 31 is an area for displaying thehistory of messages exchanged in a chat.

Components of each message are displayed with colors according to theirrespective levels. Each component corresponds to any of five levels andthe five levels are referred to as A, B, C, D, and E in decreasing orderof difficulty. In an embodiment, the levels A, B, C, D, and E areassigned blue, green, yellow, orange, and red, respectively. Therefore,the components are displayed with these colors.

The components of a message include words and collocations. Acollocation is a string of two or more words and has a specific meaningas a word does. Specifically, collocations include compound words (twoor more words has a meaning by being combined without being connecteddirectly or using a hyphen, as a word has a meaning), idioms, andphrases. In the message history area 31, collocations are underlined sothat it is made clear that the collocations are combinations of two ormore words. Note that if “words” are simply mentioned in thisspecification, the words also include collocations.

Also, the message history area 31 has a function of, if a message in adisplayed history is selected, displaying the meanings of the componentsof the message in the meaning display area 32.

The meaning display area 32 is an area for displaying the meanings ofcomponents of a predetermined message. In the meaning display area 32,for example, the headings of the meanings of components are displayedwith colors according to the components' respective levels like in themessage history area 31. As described above, the levels A, B, C, D, andE are assigned blue, green, yellow, orange, and red, respectively, in anembodiment. Therefore, the headings of the meanings are displayed inthese colors.

The meanings of components displayed in the meaning display area 32 areonly the meanings of the components as their parts of speech in themessage. However, by selecting any component, the meanings of thecomponent as other parts of speech, and the like are also displayed indetail.

The level-specific display command buttons 33 are buttons for specifyingthe level of components whose meanings a user wants to display. Sincecomponents that have appeared in a message are recorded in a manner thateach component is given the corresponding level, the meanings aredisplayed on a level-by-level basis by specifying the level using thesebuttons. Incidentally, a button that is located in the most left handside in the drawing and on which no characters such as A to E aredescribed is a button for requesting the display of the meanings ofwords regardless of any level. When this button is depressed, themeanings of components of the latest message from the chat partner aredisplayed unless a specific massage is selected. If a specific massageis selected, the meanings of components of the selected message aredisplayed. In the drawing, buttons on which A to E are described arebuttons for specifying the level of components whose meanings will bedisplayed. If a button indicating a certain level is depressed, themeanings of components corresponding to the level in multiple messagesfrom the chat partner are displayed. When any button is depressed, theframe of the button is displayed with a heavy line. Also, the buttonsindicating the levels A to E may be colored with the above-describedlevel-specific colors so that the levels specified by the buttons areeasily grasped.

User level setting buttons 34 are also provided in a lower part of thechat window 30.

The user level setting buttons 34 are buttons for setting the level(user level) of the language ability of a user who has a chat using thechat window 30. For example, it is preferable to set a previouslyregistered user level as the default in a manner that a buttoncorresponding to the user level is highlighted and to change the userlevel by depressing any of the user level buttons 34 if necessary aftera chat has been started. As with the level-specific display commandbuttons, when any of these buttons is depressed, the frame of the buttonis displayed with a heavy line. Also in this case, the buttonsindicating the levels A to E may be colored with the above-describedlevel-specific colors so that the user easily grasps his or her ownlevel setting.

Assuming that a chat is actually being performed, specific displaycontent will be described. Also in this case, assume that the user A isa user who is a chat partner and the user B is a user who is having achat while watching the chat window 30, as described above. Also, assumethat if the user B has viewed a certain word within twelve hours or hasviewed it six times or more, it is presumed that the user B bears theword in memory. Further, assume that characters described with heavylines in the drawings are colored in an actual window.

FIG. 8 shows the content displayed when the user B has sent a message302 in response to a message 301 that is the second message from theuser A after the start of a chat. Here, assume that the user B has had achat several times until then, most of words that have appeared in thisexample are ones that have appeared for the first time, and only“certificate” has appeared five times in the chats until then.

Also, assume that the respective word levels of “secretary,”“picturesque,” and “villa” in the message 301 are higher than the userlevel and have appeared for the first time. Therefore, the meaningscorresponding to the parts of speech of these words in the message aredisplayed in the meaning display area 32. If “secretary,” “picturesque,”and “villa” are a level C word, a level A word, and a level C word,respectively, they are displayed in yellow, blue, and yellow,respectively, in the message history area 31 and meaning display area32.

FIG. 9 shows the content displayed when the user B has sent a message312 in response to a message 311 that is the third message from the userA sent after that.

Here, assume that the respective word levels of “showed,” “certificate,”and “administrative scrivener” in the message 311 are higher than theuser level and the respective appearance frequencies of these words havenot reached six times. Therefore, the meanings corresponding to theparts of speech of these words in the message are displayed in themeaning display area 32. If “showed,” “certificate,” and “administrativescrivener” are a level D word, a level C word, and a level B word,respectively, they are displayed in orange, yellow, and green,respectively, in the message history area 31 and meaning display area32.

Assume that a series of interactions in the chat shown in FIGS. 8 and 9have been completed and, the day after, (e.g., twelve hours after), achat about the same topic has been started again. Also, assume that theuser B has had no chat during this time interval.

FIG. 10 shows the content displayed when a message 321 that is thesecond message from the user A sent after the start of the chat aboutthe same topic has been received.

Here, assume that the word level of “certificate” in the message 321 ishigher than the user level as described with reference to FIG. 9 and therespective word levels of “certificated public accountant” and“gorgeous” in the same message are also higher than the user level.However, with regard to “certificate,” its viewing frequency has reachedsix times because the user B has viewed it in the message 311 shown inFIG. 9. Therefore, its meaning is not displayed in the meaning displayarea 32. On the other hand, “gorgeous” has not been viewed within twelvehours and has not been viewed six times or more. However, it has beenused by the user B in the message 312 shown in FIG. 9; therefore, itsmeaning is not displayed in the meaning display area 32. In the end,only “certificated public accountant” has not been viewed within twelvehours and has not been viewed six times or more. Also, it has not beenused by the user B. Therefore, its meaning is displayed in the meaningdisplay area 32. “If “certificated public accountant” is a level B word,it is displayed in green in the message history area 31 and meaningdisplay area 32.

Hereafter, other display functions performed on the chat window 30 willbe described.

First, a detailed meaning display function will be described.

In FIG. 9 referred to above, the part of speech of “show” in the messageis a transitive verb; therefore, only the meaning of the word as atransitive verb is displayed. However, there is a description of“detail” in FIG. 9; therefore, the detailed meanings of “show” aredisplayed by clicking on this description.

FIG. 11 shows the content displayed at that time. Not only the meaningof “show” as a transitive verb but also the meanings thereof as anintransitive verb and a noun are displayed in the drawing.

Second, a level-specific meaning display function will be described.

In FIG. 9 referred to above, the most left one of the level-specificdisplay command buttons 33 is selected. Thus, the meanings of componentsof the latest message sent by the user A are displayed unless any pastmessage is selected. If an attempt is made to perform thislevel-specific meaning display function, a button on which any of A to Eis described, among the level-specific display command buttons 33, isselected.

FIG. 12 shows the content displayed at that time. Here, a buttoncorresponding to the level C is selected as an example. In this case,the meanings of components corresponding to the level C, among therespective components of the messages displayed in the message historyarea 31, are displayed in the meaning display area 32. Specifically,“secretary,” “villa,” and “certificate” correspond to the level C, sothe meanings thereof are displayed. At that time, the headings of themeanings of these components in the meaning display area 32 aredisplayed in yellow that is a color corresponding to the level C.

Third, a past message meaning display function will be described.

In FIG. 9 referred to above, an operation in which a past message isselected is not performed. Therefore, the meanings of the components ofthe latest message sent by the chat partner are displayed. On the otherhand, if this past message meaning display function is performed, themeanings of components of a selected past message are displayed.

FIG. 13 shows the content displayed at that time. This drawing shows thestate immediately after the user A has sent the message 311. While thelatest message sent by the user A is the message 311, the message 301 isselected in the drawing. A gray, rectangular area covering the message301 indicates that the message 301 is selected. Thus, the meanings ofcomponents of the selected message 301 are displayed in the meaningdisplay area 32. The displayed specific content is similar to what isshown in FIG. 8 and will not be described in detail.

Hereafter, an example of the content stored in the dictionary storageunit 17 according to an embodiment and the content stored in the historystorage unit 14 according to an embodiment will now be described usingthe specific examples shown in FIGS. 8 to 13. If the flowchart shown inFIG. 5 is followed, the meaning of a word, whose word level is lowerthan the user level, will not be displayed in the meaning display area32 unless all the following conditions are met: the user B has notviewed the word within a predetermined time period; the user B has notviewed it predetermined times or more; the user B has not used it on hisor her own; and the user B has consulted the electronic dictionary.Also, an operation in which the dictionary is consulted is not performedin the examples shown in FIGS. 8 to 13. Therefore, in order to make thedescription simpler, words corresponding to levels lower than the userlevel are excluded from the content stored in the dictionary storageunit 17 and the content stored in the history storage unit 14.Specifically, since the user level is D, words corresponding to thelevel E are excluded.

FIG. 14( a) shows an example of the content stored in the dictionarystorage unit 17. Here, the dictionary storage unit 17 stores themeanings and levels of the words corresponding to the levels equal to orhigher than the level D that have appeared in FIGS. 8 to 13. These wordsare listed not in the order of appearance in FIGS. 8 to 13 but in thealphabetical order.

FIG. 14( b) shows an example of history information stored in thehistory storage unit 14.

As shown, the history information is information in which an appearancedate/time, a usage date/time, a frequency, and a dictionary consultationdate/time are associated with one another. Among these, the appearancedate/time refers to the date and time when a target word has appeared ina message from the chat partner. The usage date/time refers to the dateand time when a target word has been used in a message of the user'sown. The frequency refers to the frequency with which a target word hasappeared in messages from the chart partner and messages of the user'sown. That is, the frequency is the sum of the number of the appearancedates/times recorded with respect to the word and the number of theusage dates/times recorded with respect to the word. While the frequencyfield is provided herein so that the frequency with which a specifiedword has appeared in the past messages is quickly acquired, thefrequency may be counted using the information on the appearancedate/time and the information on the usage date/time as necessarywithout providing the frequency field. The dictionary consultationdate/time refers to the date and time when the meaning of a word thathas appeared in a message from the chat partner has been examined byputting a mouse cursor on the word. Also in this case, the words arelisted not in the order of appearance in FIGS. 8 to 13 but inalphabetical order.

Incidentally, the history information shown in FIG. 14( b) is historyinformation at the time when a series of interactions in the chat shownin FIGS. 8 and 9 have been completed.

For example, assume that the message 301 shown in FIG. 8 has beenreceived from the user A at 18:32, 05/16. Thus, “18:32, 05/16” isrecorded in the history information as the respective appearancedates/times of “secretary,” “picturesque,” and “villa.” The recording ofthe history information on the “secretary” among these words will bedescribed using the flowchart shown in FIG. 6. First, “secretary,”“18:32, 05/16,” and “user A” are acquired in step 161. Next, it isdetermined in step 162 that the sender is the “user A”; therefore, instep 3, “secretary” is recorded in the word field of the historyinformation, and “18:32, 05/16” in the corresponding appearancedate/time field. Since the dictionary is not consulted in this example,step 165 is skipped and the process is completed. The same goes for“picturesque” and “villa.”

Also, assume that the user B has sent the message 302 at 18:33, 05/16 inresponse to the message 301. Thus, “18:33, 05/16” is recorded in thehistory information as the usage date/time of “sound.” The recording ofthe history information on the “sound” will be described below using theflowchart shown in FIG. 6. First, “sound,” “18:33, 05/16,” and “user B”are acquired in step 161. Next, it is determined in step 162 that thesender is the “user B”; therefore, “sound” is recorded in the word fieldof the history information, and “18:33, 05/16” in the correspondingusage date/time field.

Next, assume that the message 311 shown in FIG. 9 has been received fromthe user A at 18:34, 05/16. Thus, “18:34, 05/16” is recorded in thehistory information as the respective appearance dates/times of “show,”“certificate,” and “administrative scrivener.” The process of recordingthe history information on each of these words performed at this time issimilar to what is described above using “secretary” as an example andwill not be described. Note that dots in the appearance date/time fieldof the “certificate” indicate that the “certificate” has appeared before18:34, 05/16.

Also, assume that the user B has sent the message 312 at 18:35, 05/16 inresponse to the message 311. Thus, “18:35, 05/16” is recorded in thehistory information as the usage date/time of “gorgeous.” The process ofrecording the history information on this word performed at this time issimilar to what is described above using “sound” as an example and willnot be described.

Also, assume that, subsequently, the message 321 shown in FIG. 10 hasbeen received from the user A. In this case, the frequency of viewing of“certificate” by the user B has reached six times; therefore, themeaning thereof is not displayed this time. The process of determiningwhether the meaning of the “certificate” need be displayed will bedescribed below using the flowchart shown in FIG. 5. First, it isdetermined in step 141 that “certificate” exists in the historyinformation. Next, it is determined in step 142 that the viewingfrequency of “certificate” is six times or more. Thus, it is determinedin step 143 that the meaning of “certificate” need not be displayed.

The “certificated public accountant” is a word that the user B hasviewed for the first time and its word level is higher than the userlevel; therefore, its meaning is displayed. The process of determiningwhether the meaning of the “certificated public accountant” need bedisplayed will be described below using the flowchart shown in FIG. 5.First, it is determined in step 141 that “certificated publicaccountant” does not exit in the history information. Next, it isdetermined in step 147 that the word level of “certificated publicaccountant” is higher than the user level. Thus, it is determined instep 146 that the meaning of “certificated public accountant” need bedisplayed.

As for “gorgeous,” it has been viewed by the user B once and it has beenviewed twelve or more hours before; however, it has been used by theuser B. Therefore, the meaning of “gorgeous” is not displayed this time.The process of determining whether the meaning of the “gorgeous” need bedisplayed will be described below using the flowchart shown in FIG. 5.First, it is determined in step 141 that “gorgeous” exists in thehistory information. Next, it is determined in step 142 that “gorgeous”has not been viewed within twelve hours and it has not been viewed sixtimes or more. Then, it is determined in step 144 that “gorgeous” hasbeen used by the user B himself or herself. Thus, it is determined instep 143 that the meaning of “gorgeous” need not be displayed.

In an embodiment, the processes of creating history information on theviewing of a word, the usage thereof, and the dictionary consultationwith respect to the word and the process of determining whether themeaning of the word need be displayed are all performed by the client10. However, all or a part of these processes may be performed by thechat server 20. In this case, when a message sent from the user A to theuser B passes through the chat server 20, the chat server 20 may performall or a part of the above-described processes. If the electronicdictionary of the client 10 is used, the history information on thedictionary consultation is preferably transmitted from the client 10 tothe chat server 20 without delay. Also, if a translation site is used, amessage for consulting a dictionary may be passed through the chatserver 20 so that the char server 20 acquires the history information onthe dictionary consultation in real time.

Also, in an embodiment, assuming that two persons having differentnative languages are having a chat, the translations of words aredisplayed as the meanings of the words. However, this embodiment is alsoapplicable to a case where users having the same native languageexchange messages with each other. Specifically, if a hard-to-pronounceword or a hard-to-understand word is included in a message sent by theuser A, it is determined whether the pronunciation or meaning of such aword need be displayed, according to history information.

As described above, the current language level of a user is dynamicallydetermined in an embodiment taking into account not only static criteriabut also histories including the usage situation of words. Thus, themeanings of words are optimally displayed in accordance with thedynamically determined user's language level.

Since an embodiment copes with changes in language level due to learningor a lapse of time as described above, it is continuously usable,thereby achieving high practical utility.

Also in an embodiment, when the meaning of a word is displayed, themeaning of the word as the part of speech in a message is displayed andthe word is colored with a color corresponding to the level of the word.As a result, only necessary information is displayed in an easy-to-seemanner.

Lastly, a hardware configuration of a computer to which an embodiment issuitably applied will be described. FIG. 15 is a diagram showing anexample of a hardware configuration of such a computer. As shown, thecomputer includes a central processing unit (CPU) 90 a as a calculationmeans, a main memory 90 c coupled to the CPU 90 a via an M/B(motherboard) chip set 90 b, and a display 90 d coupled to the CPU 90 avia the M/B chip set 90 b. Coupled to the M/B chip set 90 b via a bridgecircuit 90 e are a network interface 90 f, a hard disk drive (HDD) 90 g,a voice mechanism 90 h, a keyboard/mouse 90 i, and a flexible disk drive90 j.

These components are coupled to one another via buses in FIG. 15. Forexample, the CPU 90 a and M/B chip set 90 b are coupled via a CPU bus,and the M/B chip set 90 b and main memory 90 c are also coupled via theCPU bus. The M/B chip set 90 b and display 90 d may be coupled via anaccelerated graphics port (AGP). If the display 90 d includes a PCIExpress-compliant video card, the M/B chip set 90 b and this video cardare coupled via a PCI Express (PCIe) bus. The network interface 90 f iscoupled to the bridge circuit 90 e via, for example, PCI Express. Thehard disk drive 90 g is coupled to the bridge circuit 90 e via, forexample, serial AT attachment (ATA), parallel transfer ATA, orperipheral components interconnect (PCI). The keyboard/mouse 90 i andflexible disk drive 90 j are coupled to the bridge circuit 90 e viauniversal serial buses (USB).

The present invention in its entirety may be realized using hardware orrealized using software. Or the present invention may be realized usingboth hardware and software. Further, the present invention may berealized as any of a computer, a data processing system, and a computerprogram. Such a computer program may be stored in a computer-readablemedium and provided. Among such computer-readable media are electronicmedia, magnetic media, optical media, electromagnetic media, infrared orsemiconductor systems (devices). More specifically, computer-readablemedia include semiconductors or solid state storage devices, magnetictapes, detachable computer diskettes, random access memories (RAMs),read-only memories (ROMs), rigid magnetic disks, and optical disks.Among currently available optical disks are compact disc-read onlymemories (CD-ROMs), compact disc-read/write (CD-R/W), and digitalversatile discs (DVDs).

While the present invention has been described using various embodimentthereof, the technical scope of the invention is not limited to theabove-described embodiments. It will be apparent for those skilled inthe art that various modifications can be made thereto or substitutescan be used without departing from the spirit and scope of theinvention.

The invention claimed is:
 1. An apparatus for helping in a reading of anelectronic message exchanged between multiple users, comprising: a chatroom or instant message utility sending an electronic message betweenusers; an extraction unit for extracting a word from the electronicmessage sent to a particular user; an acquisition unit for acquiringhistory information on the word being extracted by the extraction unitand storing the history information in a history storage unit, whereinthe history information includes a viewing of the word by the particularuser, a usage of the word by the particular user; and a consultation ofan electronic dictionary for the meaning of the word by the particularuser; a display determination unit for determining, based on the historyinformation acquired by the acquisition unit, whether a meaning of theword extracted by the extraction unit needs to be presented to theparticular user, wherein the determining is based on a criteria relatedto a viewing of the word by the particular user, a criteria related to ausage of the word by the particular user, and a criteria related to aconsultation of an electronic dictionary for the meaning of the word bythe particular user; and a display for displaying the meaning of theword in a case in which the display determination unit determines thatthe meaning of the word needs to be presented to the user.
 2. Theapparatus according to claim 1, wherein the acquisition unit acquiresthe history information on the viewing of the word, and if the historyinformation on the viewing of the word meets a criterion that is relatedto the viewing of the word and predetermined as a criterion forpresuming that the particular user knows the meaning of the word, thedisplay determination unit determines that the meaning of the word neednot be presented to the particular user.
 3. The apparatus according toclaim 1, wherein the acquisition unit acquires the history informationon the viewing of the word, and if the history information on theviewing of the word does not meet a criterion that is related to theviewing of the word and predetermined as a criterion for presuming thatthe particular user knows the meaning of the word, the displaydetermination unit determines that the meaning of the word needs to bepresented to the particular user.
 4. The apparatus according to claim 1,wherein the acquisition unit acquires the history information on theviewing of the word and the history information on the usage of theword, and even if the history information on the viewing of the worddoes not meet a criterion that is related to the viewing of the word andpredetermined as a criterion for presuming that the particular userknows the meaning of the word, the display determination unit determinesthat the meaning of the word need not be presented to the particularuser if the history information on the usage of the word meets acriterion that is related to the usage of the word and predetermined asa criterion for presuming that the particular user knows the meaning ofthe word.
 5. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the acquisitionunit acquires the history information on the viewing of the word and thehistory information on the usage of the word, and if the historyinformation on the viewing of the word does not meet a criterion that isrelated to the viewing of the word and predetermined as a criterion forpresuming that the particular user knows the meaning of the word and ifthe history information on the usage of the word does not meet acriterion that is related to the usage of the word and predetermined asa criterion for presuming that the particular user knows the meaning ofthe word, the display determination unit determines that the meaning ofthe word needs to be presented to the particular user.
 6. The apparatusaccording to claim 1, wherein the acquisition unit acquires the historyinformation on the usage of the word, and if the history information onthe usage of the word meets a criterion that is related to the usage ofthe word and predetermined as a criterion for presuming that theparticular user knows the meaning of the word, the display determinationunit determines that the meaning of the word need not be presented tothe particular user.
 7. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein theacquisition unit acquires the history information on the usage of theword, and if the history information on the usage of the word does notmeet a criterion that is related to the usage of the word andpredetermined as a criterion for presuming that the particular userknows the meaning of the word, the display determination unit determinesthat the meaning of the word needs to be presented to the particularuser.
 8. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the acquisitionunit acquires the history information on the usage of the word and ahistory information on consultation of an electronic dictionary by theparticular user for examining the meaning of the word, and if thehistory information on the usage of the word does not meet a criterionthat is related to the usage of the word and predetermined as acriterion for presuming that the particular user knows the meaning ofthe word and if the history information on the consultation does notmeet a criterion that is related to the consultation of the electronicdictionary and predetermined as a criterion for presuming that theparticular user knows the meaning of the word, the display determinationunit determines that the meaning of the word needs to be presented tothe particular user.
 9. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein theacquisition unit acquires the history information on the usage of theword and a history information on consultation of an electronicdictionary by the particular user for examining the meaning of the word,and even if the history information on the usage of the word does notmeet a criterion that is related to the usage of the word andpredetermined as a criterion for presuming that the particular userknows the meaning of the word, the determination unit determines thatthe meaning of the word need not be presented to the particular user ifthe history information on the consultation of the electronic dictionarymeets a criterion that is related to the consultation of the electronicdictionary and predetermined as a criterion for presuming that theparticular user knows the meaning of the word.
 10. A method for helpingin a reading of an electronic message exchanged between multiple users,the method comprising the steps of: a chat room or instant messageutility sending an electronic message between users; extracting a wordfrom the electronic message sent to a particular user; acquiring historyinformation on the word being extracted, wherein the history informationincludes a viewing of the word by the particular user, a usage of theword by the particular user, and a consultation of an electronicdictionary for the meaning of the word by the particular user;determining, based on the acquired history information, whether ameaning of the extracted word needs to be presented to the particularuser on a display, wherein the determining is based on a criteriarelated to a viewing of the word by the particular user, a criteriarelated to a usage of the word by the particular user, and a criteriarelated to a consultation of an electronic dictionary for the meaning ofthe word by the particular user; and displaying the meaning of the wordin a case in which the determining results in a determination that themeaning of the word needs to be presented to the user.
 11. The methodaccording to claim 10, wherein the acquiring step acquires the historyinformation on the viewing of the word, and if the history informationon the viewing of the word meets a criterion that is related to theviewing of the word and predetermined as a criterion for presuming thatthe particular user knows the meaning of the word, the determining stepdetermines that the meaning of the word need not be presented to theparticular user.
 12. The method according to claim 10, wherein theacquiring step acquires the history information on the viewing of theword, and if the history information on the viewing of the word does notmeet a criterion that is related to the viewing of the word andpredetermined as a criterion for presuming that the particular userknows the meaning of the word, the determining step determines that themeaning of the word needs to be presented to the particular user. 13.The method according to claim 10, wherein the acquiring step acquiresthe history information on the viewing of the word and the historyinformation on the usage of the word, and even if the historyinformation on the viewing of the word does not meet a criterion that isrelated to the viewing of the word and predetermined as a criterion forpresuming that the particular user knows the meaning of the word, thedetermining step determines that the meaning of the word need not bepresented to the particular user if the history information on the usageof the word meets a criterion that is related to the usage of the wordand predetermined as a criterion for presuming that the particular userknows the meaning of the word.
 14. The method according to claim 10,wherein the acquiring step acquires the history information on theviewing of the word and the history information on the usage of theword, and if the history information on the viewing of the word does notmeet a criterion that is related to the viewing of the word andpredetermined as a criterion for presuming that the particular userknows the meaning of the word and if the history information on theusage of the word does not meet a criterion that is related to the usageof the word and predetermined as a criterion for presuming that theparticular user knows the meaning of the word, the determining stepdetermines that the meaning of the word needs to be presented to theparticular user.
 15. The method according to claim 10, wherein theacquiring step acquires the history information on the usage of theword, and if the history information on the usage of the word meets acriterion that is related to the usage of the word and predetermined asa criterion for presuming that the particular user knows the meaning ofthe word, the determining step determines that the meaning of the wordneed not be presented to the particular user.
 16. The method accordingto claim 10, wherein the acquiring step acquires the history informationon the usage of the word, and if the history information on the usage ofthe word does not meet a criterion that is related to the usage of theword and predetermined as a criterion for presuming that the particularuser knows the meaning of the word, the determining step determines thatthe meaning of the word needs to be presented to the particular user.17. The method according to claim 10, wherein the acquiring stepacquires the history information on the usage of the word and a historyinformation on consultation of an electronic dictionary by theparticular user for examining the meaning of the word, and if thehistory information on the usage of the word does not meet a criterionthat is related to the usage of the word and predetermined as acriterion for presuming that the particular user knows the meaning ofthe word and if the history information on the consultation does notmeet a criterion that is related to the consultation of the electronicdictionary and predetermined as a criterion for presuming that theparticular user knows the meaning of the word, the determining stepdetermines that the meaning of the word needs to be presented to theparticular user.
 18. The method according to claim 10, wherein theacquiring step acquires the history information on the usage of the wordand a history information on consultation of an electronic dictionary bythe particular user for examining the meaning of the word, and even ifthe history information on the usage of the word does not meet acriterion that is related to the usage of the word and predetermined asa criterion for presuming that the particular user knows the meaning ofthe word, the determining step determines that the meaning of the wordneed not be presented to the particular user if the history informationon the consultation of the electronic dictionary meets a criterion thatis related to the consultation of the electronic dictionary andpredetermined as a criterion for presuming that the particular userknows the meaning of the word.
 19. A program product stored on anon-transitory computer-readable storage medium which when executed by acomputer, causes the computer to help in a reading of an electronicmessage exchanged between multiple users, the program productcomprising: a chat room or instant message utility sending an electronicmessage between users; an extraction unit for extracting a word from theelectronic message sent to a particular user; an acquisition unit foracquiring history information on the word being extracted by theextraction unit, wherein the history information includes a viewing ofthe word by the particular user, a usage of the word by the particularuser, and a consultation of an electronic dictionary for the meaning ofthe word by the particular user; a display determination unit fordetermining, based on the acquired history information, whether ameaning of the word extracted by the extraction unit needs to bepresented to the particular user on a display, wherein the determiningis based on a criteria related to a viewing of the word by theparticular user, a criteria related to a usage of the word by theparticular user, and a criteria related to a consultation of anelectronic dictionary for the meaning of the word by the particularuser; and an input/output control unit for displaying the meaning of theword on the display in a case in which the display determination unitdetermines that the meaning of the word needs to be presented to theuser, based on the history information acquired by the acquisition unit.20. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the word in the electronic messageis assigned a difficulty level, and wherein the particular user mayspecify the difficulty level at which the particular user desires thatthe meaning of the word be presented to the user.